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One for Sorrow, Two for Joy by Clive Woodall
One for Sorrow, Two for Joy is one more in the vein of animal kingdom books, the classic one of course being Watership Down. Sorrow doesn’t approach the skill, majesty, or emotion of Watership Down but that’s hard to fault it for, as few books do. The problem is not that it doesn’t hold up well against a classic but that it doesn’t hold up well against your average book either.
January 11th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2 | Clive Woodall | Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Search for Senna by K.A. Applegate
Best known for her bestselling pre-teen series Animorphs, K.A. Applegate takes on a darker subject matter for a significantly older audience in her twelve book series Everworld. Straight away one of the advantages to the story is that there’s an end in sight (unlike the Animorph series which dragged on for fifty-four books), though I cannot help but wonder if perhaps this series would have benefited by simply being a single novel. The chapters are short,
January 9th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 2 | K.A. Applegate | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
THE SCEPTER OF MERCY by Dan Chernenko
Okay, this trilogy is fantasy lite. These books have really good covers, and the blurbs on the back read pretty good, but by the time I was halfway through the first one, I was feeling guilty, and it was the kind of guilt you have for skipping Masterpiece Theatre because you want to watch Desperate Housewives (that has not happened to me, but it was the best analogy I could come up with). I would note that the cover of The Scepter’s Return bears a striking similarity to Steven Erikson’s Deadhouse Gates’ cover.
December 28th, 2009. Guest´s rating: 2 | Dan Chernenko | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Theo has spent all of his life inside and away from people. His guardian Dr. Saint has always told him that he has a deadly disease that prevents him from being involved in modern society. So it’s a treat for Theo when, as a birthday outing, Dr. Saint allows him to take a stroll in the cemetery near the house. Imagine his surprise when he happens to find a gift with his name on it randomly sitting on one of the headstones.
Aside from the strange gift,
November 3rd, 2009. Guest´s rating: 2 | Glenn Dakin | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Kith is the second installment in The Good Neighbors, Holly Black’s series of graphic novels about Rue, a young woman whose life is torn apart when her mother disappears. Kin, the first book in this series, traces Rue’s discovery that her mother is a fairy princess who returns to her own people when Rue’s father is unfaithful. Kith picks up the action as the fairy world fights for Rue to join her mother,
October 20th, 2009. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 2 | Holly Black | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Steward of Song by Adam Stemple
Steward of Song is the sequel to Singer of Souls, an excellent and original urban fantasy novel by Adam Stemple. I enjoyed the first novel very much, but unfortunately wasn’t as impressed with this sequel. Singer of Souls had a great narrative curve, building up the plot and the tension very carefully, from a slow start to a gradual exposition to an explosive climax. I simply couldn’t put it down. Steward of Songmaintains more or less the same pace all through the story,
September 2nd, 2009. Stefan Raets´s rating: 2 | Adam Stemple | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Once Upon a Time books are a series of relatively slim volumes that retell traditional fairytales, usually in an updated setting. Water Song: A Retelling of “The Frog Prince”
for example is set during WWII, and with the magical elements removed. Belle is an exception to this rule, as it is set in your typical 19th century time-period and with plenty of emphasis on enchantment and mystery in its second half.
Other reviewers have compared Belle with Robin McKinley‘s Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast.
June 26th, 2009. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 2 | Cameron Dokey | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Beyond the Pale by Savannah Russe
Savannah Russe starts with an original premise: What if a vampire became a spy for the U.S. government? Daphne Urban has survived five hundred years and schmoozed with royalty and Romantic poets. These days, though, she’s suffering from ennui. When the government makes her an offer she can’t refuse, she’s resistant at first, but soon realizes her new job is the most excitement she’s had in over a century.
Trouble is, Daphne makes a rather bumbling spy. I realize she’s new to the whole secret agent thing,
June 25th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | Savannah Russe | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Year of Our War by Steph Swainston
I’m always drawn to material that is described as “fresh,” “original” or “inventive.” So when I was introduced to Steph Swainston and her highly praised fantasy series, I was eager to delve into this fascinating new world starting with Ms. Swainston’s debut The Year of Our War. Unluckily for me, it wasn’t quite what I expected.
Set in The Fourlands, The Year of Our War focuses on three races (humans, winged yet flightless Awians,
June 15th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 2 | Steph Swainston | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton
Skin Trade is enough of a step in the right direction that I’m sorely tempted to give it a higher rating than it actually deserves. There’s a plot! With murders! And investigating! And I turned out to be right about Marmee Noir’s plans for Anita. And the two explicit sex scenes are better-written and less icky than what I’ve come to expect from Laurell K. Hamilton. And she’s being copy-edited again, so there are only a few typos.
June 14th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | Laurell K. Hamilton | SFF Reviews | no comments |
so you're saying I should read it? :)
As a native New Yorker, I love the idea of the city being filled with canals and no skyscrapers! And…
How did I miss this? Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
I guess that is true, Marion. And when it comes to "You Only Live Twice," I saw the movie TWICE…
You managed to work in your two loves; vintage fiction and films!